


The Agent of the Nine

by dngrs_untld_hrdshps_unnmbrd



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Self Insert, Xur x Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-29 03:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13918842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dngrs_untld_hrdshps_unnmbrd/pseuds/dngrs_untld_hrdshps_unnmbrd
Summary: A Guardian befriends the enigmatic alien and seeks to find out more about him.





	The Agent of the Nine

_“I cannot explain what the Nine are. They are…very large. I cannot explain. The fault is mine, not yours.”_

* * *

You always looked forward to the weekends the best, because that’s when Xûr comes. Most Guardians shop for their exotics and leave right away but you like to sit with the shadowy Agent of the Nine and listen to him speak his strange tales. It’s soothing. You like his quiet company and he seems to enjoy yours.

One morning you wake up and there’s a strange box on your bedside table. You have no idea who put it there but when you touch it the box lights up and you see the insignia of the Nine glowing on its side. Try as you might you can’t open it, and so it remains at your bedside until Xûr comes on Friday.

When you take it to him he seems surprised that it is still closed. “Sing a note in b-flat. Then the box will open,” he says in his rasping voice, undulating before you in his habitual crouch.

You laugh. “Oh, of course. Why didn’t I think of that?” You sing a few notes, hoping one will be a b-flat and finally the box springs open. It’s empty, and you stare at it in confusion until out rushes the most haunting, beautiful song, like panpipes played by giants.

“It is the sound the wind makes as it passes across the bones of the old gods on my homeworld.”

You’re used to the strange things that Xûr says by now, but now you think you hear sadness in his voice. “You miss it. Can’t you go home?”

“My homeworld was destroyed millennia ago. I’ve kept that song throughout all my travels. It was the last one.”

You clutch the box to your chest. It was the last time that sound would ever be heard, and he gave the song to you. “Thank you, Xûr.”

Over the next week you think about Xûr constantly, the strange powers he has, all that he sees, all the places he goes. “Are you one of the Nine?” you ask when you see him next. But his tentacles just wiggle in amusement and he shakes his head.

The next week you ask him to meet you in the Last City so you can eat together, but he says he can’t. You ask what he means when he says his will his not his own and he shrugs. You ask him who the Nine are he says in a strangled voice that he wants to tell you, but he can’t.

“Why not? We’re friends.” But you’re more than friends. After he gave you the song of the bones he took your hand with his dry one and held it tightly. There’s been a secret glow in his eyes when he’s looked at you since then.

Regretfully, he shakes his head. “One day. One day I will tell you everything.”

But you’re frustrated and angry with him. “Why not now? I’m tired of all your mystery.”

Xûr looks at the ground as if you’ve hurt him. “Do you get to choose everything that you do?” he asks quietly.

“Yes, of course!”

He looks up at the Traveler, and then he turns and walks away without saying goodbye. What did he mean by looking at the Traveler? Does he think you’re a slave to the Light? How dare he! Tired of his secrets, you decide to follow him. 

Xûr travels far out beyond your system to a dark planet bound by no orbit, drifting through space. Quietly, you sneak behind him into a great, vaulted underground room, like a tomb. It’s massive, a cathedral for gods.

Xûr stands in the centre of the space and calls, “I have returned, O Great Ones. Tell me what bidding I must do next.”

Nine great orbs of light appear all around him, dwarfing him. Several voices speak at once, harsh and unfriendly.  _You have been followed. There is an intruder in this sacred place._

Xûr whips round in surprise, his tentacles stranding on end, and he sees you. Then falls to his knees before the lights. “It’s my fault. Let them leave. I should have been more careful.”

_Yes, you should. You must be punished_ , the beings say.  _When the last star in the universe has winked out and all light and warmth is extinguished, then your service to us will be over._

“No!” You start forward. “That’s not fair, punish me instead, me didn’t know.” But Xûr’s talking over you, bowing to the orbs, thanking them, and hustling you outside.

Under the light of the stars you look at Xûr, tears streaming down your face. How long did he have left in their service? He might almost have been free and now he never would be. “I’m so sorry. I was angry with you for keeping so many secrets. I thought you were one of the Nine.”

To your surprise, Xûr begins to laugh. “Me, one of the Nine? I’m nobody. I can’t even remember my first name. I’ve lived so long in service to the Nine that I don’t know anything else. Don’t be sad for me, Guardian. ”

“But now you’ll never be free. You’ll be their slave forever.”

Your friend thinks for a moment, but then he shrugs. “I’ll still come every week. I’ll still see you, won’t I?”

Your throat too tight to speak, you watch as Xûr shuffles off into the shadows talking quietly to himself, his backpack filled with glowing treasures.

* * *

_Thank you for reading. Find me on Tumblr: https://dngrs-untld-hrshps-unnmbrd.tumblr.com_


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